Things I've been dying to tell you

Play Challenge

by debkauffman on October 8, 2012

Play seems to be making a comeback. I keep reading about the importance of play and how it is essential for innovation and creativity, physical health, and happiness. Most authors refer to the researcher, Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, and his book, “Flow”. I read that book probably 10 years ago when I was first starting to homeschool my children and it had a huge impact on how I approached their education. More and more people are starting to realize the power of letting yourself get lost in doing something you love. In this TED talk, Steve Keil proposes to change an entire country, (their productivity, education, and economy) simply through play. That’s a pretty bold thing to say!

Sir Ken Robinson discusses the importance of play or “flow” in education in his now famous TED talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”. This video is the most watched TED talk ever. These ideas seem to really resonate with people. Jane McGonigal also has a TED talk called, “Gaming can make a better world” Again, more bold talk about the value of play. All of these people might be on to something.

I would like to propose we do an experiment and test out this theory. This could be the most fun experiment ever! Simply add more play to your life and see what happens. Instead of watching TV, actively engage in something that is fun for you. After about a week of doing fun stuff, let me know the results of your experiment. Do you notice any difference in your life, health, relationships or emotions? What kinds of things did you do?

Remember, what you consider to be fun might be very different than what I would consider fun. You might think play is digging in your garden or dancing in your living room. You might just want to sit and read a good book or you may want to put on gory make up and go to the Zombie Crawl. Whatever. Just do something you really WANT to do that brings you joy. Feel free to post pictures/video/text about what you did and/or how you felt afterward. If you want to tweet about it, use #playexp. I’m @DSKauffman. Now get out there and play!!

Here’s me having fun dressed up as “Margarita Rocks”, the cocktail waitress who wants to be a star, at a Murder Mystery party.